A Disclaimer, an Introduction and a small rant...

<--AS explained here my journey has taken a new direction. Starting in the next post. The post below contains only my personal views and experiences. I have chosen not to name our previous supplier in this post. My goal for this blog is to expose and explore coffee culture in Northern Ireland based on my experiences and hope to begin by reviewing and evaluating more of the scene here, from roasters/suppliers to cafes and their staff. It is amazing to find a roaster/supplier that is willing to work so closely with a customer to provide a great service and a great product, when so many are content to settle for one or the other. Some cafe's here set out to be the best but only end up being better than the worst due to a poor attitude, average suppliers, a desire to expand rather than improve, a lack of knowledge or ability to implement it and lastly under trained 'baristas' that also lack personality and ambition. It will take everyone involved in the industry to try and banish the view that coffee is a convenience food or that "coffee is just coffee."

Let's collectively welcome our customers to coffee's third wave from an industry made up of speciality roasters, cafe owners and highly trained baristas so that mediocrity is eventually wiped out (by the best roasters, trainers and staff being employed by all independent cafes and by global banishing of super auto's, dumbasses and green mermaids.) :-) I can but dream...

Todays main post is below, enjoy!